Hello.
Welcome.
Let's begin with a few deep breaths.
We'll take three.
Beginning with a big,
Deep inhale.
And exhale.
Breathing in and out.
One more time.
In and out.
And now allow your breath to resume its natural rhythm.
And imagine,
Bring to your mind's eye some place outside,
Maybe a place you've seen before or somewhere completely new.
And it's completely safe.
You feel a gentle breeze against your skin.
Night has fallen,
So it's fairly dark,
But there's still quite a bit of light.
And as you look around,
You notice that there are sky lanterns.
Like the ones you've seen on Untangled or at weddings,
They've become pretty popular.
And they're anchored to the ground around you.
Now,
These lanterns are not in danger of setting any larger fires.
They're completely safe.
They're biodegradable,
If you will.
And they're nice,
But they're crowding your space.
And they really belong in the sky,
Not trapped on the ground.
Now imagine that each of these lanterns represents something from today.
It could be an event,
A person,
A task,
A series of tasks that need to be completed.
Anything from the day that's crowding around you and preventing you from falling asleep or resting.
They're not necessarily bad things,
But they're inhibiting you right now from reaching your goal of rest,
Of relaxing.
There's one lantern in particular close to you,
And you untether it,
And you allow it to float up into the sky.
You watch as it gently rises,
Lifts up into the sky effortlessly,
So naturally.
And it continues going up and up until it disappears into the dark sky.
And as it disappears,
You notice that it doesn't fill the air with any sort of pollution,
But instead with a calming,
Peaceful energy.
As though it's thanking you for letting it go.
And so you approach another lantern.
You untether this one and allow it to float up in front of your face and then above your head as it continues to bob up and up.
And it disappears,
Once again filling the air with that peaceful presence,
That energy.
And you do the same with another and another.
Untethering the lantern,
Watching it lift up to your face,
Above your head until it vanishes in the sky,
Leaving behind a safe,
Peaceful energy.
And you do this again and again and again.
You begin to notice that even though more lanterns are being released,
It still isn't getting too much darker,
Just a little bit,
Not too much.
You're now surrounded by a comfortable amount of light that's soothing without being too bright,
Too harsh.
You look up toward the sky and you notice that with every lantern that disappears,
A star appears high in the sky.
Each of these stars twinkles and sparkles with a warm,
Protective light keeping you safe.
And so you continue releasing these lanterns,
Creating more stars in the night sky,
Your own protective covering of stars,
Of peace,
Of light.
Continue allowing these lanterns to disappear into the sky.
Perhaps you notice that there aren't any more lanterns to release,
They're all gone.
And if this is the case,
Feel free to look up at the stars.
Imagine yourself laying down on the soft ground beneath and watching those stars as they twinkle above you,
Thanking you in a way for letting those lanterns go,
For letting those things from the day just go,
Just for now.
You may notice you still have many lanterns to release and that's okay.
There's no rush,
No place to go,
No other place to be.
You're just here in your safe space,
Letting these lanterns go,
Creating those stunning stars above.
Continue allowing these lanterns to release for as long as you need to,
Perhaps even after this recording has ended.
Continue tending to yourself by releasing these lights up into the sky.
Thank you for joining me.
I hope you rest well.
